


Change Comes To All

by katling



Series: Tony Stark Bingo [30]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Iron Man happens, SHIELD, but Pepper has it under control, they're dicks, with some small differences
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-31
Updated: 2020-01-31
Packaged: 2021-02-25 06:08:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22491307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katling/pseuds/katling
Summary: Combining a secret relationship with being a spy isn't the easiest of things but Natasha and Tony make it work. Then comes a trip to Afghanistan and everything changes.Sequel toHello, GorgeousWritten for the Tony Stark Bingo - Card 3054, Square T2: Captivity
Relationships: Natasha Romanov/Tony Stark
Series: Tony Stark Bingo [30]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1270763
Comments: 25
Kudos: 670
Collections: Assassin Twins + Tony, Tony Stark Bingo 2020





	Change Comes To All

It wasn’t easy, making it work between them. Tony was a busy man and Natasha didn’t dare allow SHIELD to know what was going on. But she was determined and SHIELD was different from the Red Room in one way - they allowed her an enormous amount of leeway in how she did the jobs they gave her. Enough that she could make time to visit Tony. She’d learned to get the job done quickly so that she could exercise that leeway in how long it took her to return. That way she could spend more time with Tony, always something that was fun, both in and out of bed.

They were three months into their relationship before she officially met Pepper, who remembered her from the party. That had been fun. Once she had wrapped her mind around the fact that Natasha wasn’t a threat to Tony or Stark Industries and, in fact, would go out of her way to protect Tony, Pepper warmed to her. Natasha suspected that Pepper also appreciated the fact that Tony’s philandering ways had all but disappeared. He was very monogamous when he was in a relationship and that meant that Pepper didn’t have to kick women or men out of his house in the morning anymore.

Tony’s monogamy had actually been their first hurdle because Natasha had pointed out that the change in his behaviour would look suspicious, especially to Obie. Tony had, however, refused point blank to fool around with other people, which Natasha found gratifying but a bit frustrating. It might have devolved into an argument that Natasha didn’t really want to win except Pepper had interrupted, looking amused and very, very devious, an expression that made Natasha laugh. It seemed Pepper was ahead of them both and had a list of men and women, most of whom Tony had fooled around with before, who would be happy to pretend to date him. Tony had been suspicious about why they’d do that until Pepper had told him that they would be getting something out of it - recognition. Each of them had the ability to parlay being seen on Tony’s arm into things they wanted. Natasha was impressed and between the two of them, they were able to convince Tony.

Rhodes had been a harder sell. He’d viewed her with suspicion and doubt for a long time. It had grated a bit because Tony was hers and she would never hurt him, not deliberately anyway. It had also been pleasing, that there was someone who had Tony’s back so thoroughly and adamantly, even if, like her, he couldn’t be around all the time. In the end, it was that mutual protectiveness that had softened Rhodes’ opinion of her and allowed Rhodes to become Jim to her.

After that, she brought both Jim and Pepper into her side project – finding enough dirt on Stane to bring him down. She’d expected to have to argue her case with both of them but they’d surprised her by being fully on board before she finished her first sentence. It turned out that they both disliked Stane but, like her, had only what they’d seen and heard, nebulous reasons with no proof that they could use to both convince Tony and get rid of Stane. They were more than willing to help her by providing access to SI’s computers and files and covering up after her.

It was getting access to the paper files that was the turning point. There had been almost nothing on computer, which made sense given Tony’s aptitude with them, but the paper files held everything she’d ever wanted. Unfortunately, they must have given something away because before Pepper and Jim could show everything to Tony, Stane disappeared. They did it anyway, to offer the explanation as to why Stane disappeared, and Tony embarked on a lengthy period of cleaning house and ending the illegal sale of his weapons. Natasha turned her attention to finding Stane, something that she wasn’t able to do in time.

******

“Must you go, Antoshka?” Natasha pouted, arranging herself on the bed in what she knew was a particularly alluring manner and smirking when Tony hesitated, his eyes dilating as they roamed over her body.

He gave himself a shake and smiled ruefully at her. “Sneaky spider, trying to lure me into your web.”

Natasha grinned. She’d long ago told Tony about her past as a Black Widow and now it was little more than a joke between them. Tony took it seriously but he also knew she enjoyed the jokes because they meant that he saw her not as a danger or a weapon but as a person.

“Is it working?” she said, arching an eyebrow and letting the top of the flimsy robe she was wearing fall open.

He licked his lips at the newly revealed skin. “Yeah, it kind of is but I’m already late and if I’m any later, Pepper’s going to come after both of us with a spoon. A blunt, rusty spoon.”

Natasha snickered and closed her robe. “Well, in that case, off you go, Mr Stark. We can take this up again when you get back.”

Tony sighed as he shrugged on his jacket. He was in jeans and a t-shirt right now but she knew that there would be a suit waiting for him on the plane. “Ugh, the military better buy plenty of these for dragging me all the way over to Afghanistan,” he groused before darting forward and kissing her. It wasn’t a chaste kiss in any way and by the time he reluctantly pulled away, they were both breathless and more than a little wound up. Tony prevaricated for a moment longer then he turned towards the door.

“Don’t wait up for me, Itsy Bitsy.” He paused in the doorway, then gave her a hesitant, uncertain look over his shoulder that had her sitting up. He bit his lip and said very quickly, “I love you.”

He was out the door before she could react and by the time she tried to follow him, he was gone. She fumed for a moment then had to laugh.

“JARVIS, remind me I need to kick his ass when he gets back for saying that and then running away.”

“Of course, Natalia,” JARVIS replied, openly amused. 

She’d always marvelled at the wonderfully sophisticated AI Tony had created, which had given her yet another reason to keep SHIELD well away from him. When he’d realised her relationship with Tony was serious, he’d very politely asked her what she would like him to call her. When she’d hesitantly said ‘Natalia’, he hadn’t even questioned it. She did however get the feeling that JARVIS had done his own research on her and knew everything there was to know about her. If it was SHIELD, she knew she’d hate it but JARVIS? She knew now that he would protect her in the same way he protected Tony and she actually felt safe with him knowing. Because he would use that information to ensure she wasn’t caught by surprise by her own past.

She returned to the bedroom and showered and dressed in a more leisurely manner. She had no reason to report to SHIELD for the next few days, though she debated whether it would be worth doing it now while Tony was away. She eventually decided not to. Tony would be gone tonight but, with any luck, would be back the day after tomorrow. If she went in to SHIELD, they’d probably give her another assignment. Besides, Clint wouldn’t appreciate his own little holiday being cut short.

She worked with Clint quite often. He’d brought her in. (She had some suspicions about that, though she’d never tried to find out. She liked the idea that Clint had seen something worthwhile in her. It made her feel human.) And he was one of the few to never look at her like she was _wrong_ somehow. He also knew about Tony. He had very sharp eyes and he’d noticed long before he’d said anything to her. What surprised her more was that he’d never said anything to Coulson or anyone else at SHIELD. When she’d asked why, he’d just shrugged and said, “You have your secrets, Natty Cake, I have mine.”

After she’d pummelled him for the nickname, they’d shared their secrets. It had felt good, having someone whom she could do that with and who wouldn’t judge. Clint didn’t know much about Tony beyond the public stuff but he’d said that if she liked him, so did he. Natasha learned about Clint’s secret family, one that even SHIELD didn’t know about and how he’d managed that was something he wouldn’t explain, even to her.

But if she went in now, she’d have to collect Clint from his farm and he’d be annoyed. Resigned but annoyed. He enjoyed spending extra time with his kids and had easily fallen into her habit of streamlining their missions to allow for that. 

So she took the time to relax and unwind, safe behind JARVIS’ watchful eyes. Nothing impinged on her time until JARVIS suddenly spoke.

“Natalia, there appears to be a problem with Sir.”

Natasha was on her feet in an instant. She’d heard many emotions in JARVIS’ voice but never this one. “What is it?”

“There appears to have been an attack on the convoy Sir was a part of,” JARVIS replied. He sounded worried, scared and slightly absent, as though he was doing ten things at once, which he probably was. “The reports are… scattered at the moment but there have been casualties. I have yet to ascertain the condition of either Sir or Colonel Rhodes.”

“Does Pepper know?” she asked as she reached for her phone.

“Yes,” JARVIS replied. He paused for a moment. “Colonel Rhodes has reported in. He says…”

JARVIS uncharacteristically broke off and Natasha looked up at the ceiling, a habit she’d thought she’d broken herself of.

“JARVIS?”

“Sir is missing,” JARVIS replied. “All members of the convoy have been accounted for except for Sir. A search is being organised by the military as we speak.”

Natasha nodded and hit one of her speed dial numbers. It took a few minutes for the phone to be picked up, which she was prepared for. Clint usually tucked his work stuff well out of the way of the kids.

“Nat?” he said, sounding apprehensive. “We’ve got a couple of days, don’t we?”

“Clint,” she began and was surprised to hear how shaky her voice was. So was Clint, based on his reply.

“Natty Cake?” His voice was soft and gently coaxing, like she’d heard him use with his kids. “What’s wrong? What’s happened?”

Natasha pulled herself together as best as she could. “Tony was in Afghanistan on business. His convoy was attacked. He’s missing.”

“Shit,” Clint said and she heard him moving around and closing a door. “Rhodes?”

“He’s okay.”

“He’s spitting chips, you mean.”

Natasha managed a small smile. “Most likely.” She heard the sound of the elevator arriving and turned to see Pepper walk out, fear and horror etched on her face. She held up one hand, which had the effect of gaining Pepper’s immediate attention. “Clint…”

There was a moment of silence at the other end. “If we do this, shit is going to hit the proverbial fan at SHIELD.”

Natasha knew that and she hesitated while she decided whether it would be worth it. Then she remembered those three words Tony had said to her yesterday morning and how much she wanted to say them back to him.

“Then let it,” she said with determination.

“Okay,” Clint said easily. “Let me make some calls. I’ve got some contacts in the military.”

“I’ll talk to Pepper and Jim.”

“Nat?” Clint said just as she was about to hang up. “Will you let me bring Laura into this?”

Natasha drew in a breath. “Clint… she’s retired.”

“Yeah, but she was the best. And she’s got contacts even I don’t know about.”

“Will she tell SHIELD?”

“Nope.”

Natasha chewed on her lip for a moment. “Okay. But only if she’s willing.”

“You got it.”

Natasha hung up and turned to Pepper, who was looking much better than when she’d first walked in. She must have made some correct assumptions about Natasha’s phone call.

“Natasha? You’re going to find him,” she said.

Natasha nodded. “That was a… a friend of mine. Clint. He… he knows. About me and Tony.” Pepper raised an eyebrow so she elaborated. “He has his own secrets so we agreed to keep each other’s secrets. I spend time with Tony, he spends time with his family. He doesn’t want SHIELD knowing about them anymore than I want SHIELD getting their claws into Tony.” She paused again. “Clint’s wife is a former SHIELD agent. She retired because SHIELD was keeping them apart. They didn’t approve.”

Pepper’s expression cleared and she nodded in a way that told Natasha that Clint and his family were now on SI’s radar, sight unseen. She’d have smiled if the situation wasn’t so bad. With Stane gone, Tony had changed things and while SI had always looked after its own, that had been taken up several notches now.

“Anything I can do to help?” she asked.

Natasha nodded slowly. “I need to talk to Jim and… Clint and I may need some… protection. We’re not going to be able to hide this from SHIELD for long and…”

Pepper nodded. “Yeah. I’ll get the lawyers primed and ready.” She looked up slightly. “JARVIS? Can you make arrangements for Natasha to speak to Jim?”

“Of course, Ms Potts.”

Pepper pulled out a tablet and began to work. Natasha watched her for a moment then turned on her heel and headed for the bedroom. She needed to get changed, to bring out the work clothes she usually hid away when she was in Tony’s world. She’d never wanted to two to collide.

******

Despite their best efforts, it took three long months to find Tony. Even then, it wasn’t so much a case of them finding him as much as it was him sending up a gigantic flare to let them know where he was. Clint had jumped on the helicopter heading towards the source of the explosion but Natasha glued herself to Jim’s side and went with him.

Nobody batted an eyelid or protested their presence. They’d landed in Afghanistan less than twenty-four hours after Tony’s kidnapping with official papers in their hands, courtesy of some of Clint’s contacts and Jim’s work. It had meant using their SHIELD identities, which had subsequently kicked off attempts to contact them and pull them back as well as prying eyes trying to get into Stark Industries and Tony’s private life.

Pepper had stepped up to the plate at that point and Natasha would have crowed with delight at how effortlessly she ran rings around SHIELD if Tony wasn’t _missing_. Pepper had been a great big steel-spined wall between them and SHIELD until finally Coulson himself had made an appointment with Pepper. She’d agreed and had then turned up with a good third of SI’s legal department who, with JARVIS’ help, had enough blackmail material on SHIELD’s activities to make even Coulson wince and back down. So they were safe. For now.

“He’ll be fine,” Jim said quietly and Natasha wasn’t sure who he was trying to convince.

“Yes,” she said in the same sort of manner.

It took a couple of flyovers to find him, staggering through the sand, some sort of material wrapped over his head. He staggered a few more steps after they flew over him and started to land then dropped to his knees, one hand raised in a victory salute. Natasha was half a second behind Jim as they tumbled out of the helicopter and ran over. Natasha stopped a few steps shy of reaching Tony but Jim kept going.

He went to one knee and grabbed Tony’s shoulder before saying with so much relief, “How was the fun-vee?”

Tony smiled, a weary, tired, aching smile, full of love and everything he could never put into words.

Jim wrapped his arm around Tony’s shoulders and exchanged a relieved look with Natasha. “Next time, you ride with me,” he said to Tony.

Tony then let himself collapse into Jim’s shoulder and that was when Natasha was able to make herself move. She closed the gap between then and dropped to her knees, resting one hand on Tony’s leg. She was horrified by the bright blue light that was in Tony’s _chest_ and a quick glance at Jim showed her he was as well.

“Antoshka,” she said quietly.

He raised his head and gaped at her in surprise. “Nat?” he whispered, his voice now slurring a little as he finally allowed himself to relax. He blinked and seemed to see what she was wearing for the first time. His eyes widened and she would never admit to how _relieved_ she was to see the mischievous spark in his eyes. “Hubba, hubba.”

Natasha’s laugh was sharp and sudden and she gently pulled Tony into her arms. Jim was smiling and he took the opportunity to get up and start issuing orders to the men who had come with them.

“You jackass,” she said through her laughter. “You’ve seen me in this before.”

Tony curled into a little. “Not like this.”

She shook her head and ran her hand through his filthy hair. “I know.” She let out a soft breath. “I was going to kick your ass for what you did before you left.”

He stiffened a little in her arms. “Too much?”

“No,” she said and he relaxed again. “I’m annoyed you got in first.”

He raised his head then and through the dirt and the weariness and the pain she could see lurking behind the rest of it, he smiled. “Yeah?”

She nodded. “Yeah.”

“Come on, lovebirds,” Jim said as he came up to them. “Let’s get you home.”


End file.
